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Good
afternoon
graduates,
proud
parents
and
relatives,
faculty
and
staff.
It’s
a
great
privilege
for
me
to
be
here
today
to
attend
this
ceremony
and
share
with
you
in
your
success
and
accomplishments.

I
know
this
has
been
a
long
road
for
you—four
years
for
some,
shorter
or
longer
for
others.

I
know
the
last
thing
that
you
want
to
do
be
bored
by
a
speaker.

I
also
know
that
you
are
anxious
to
finally
walk
across
the
stage
and
accept
that
degree
you’ve
worked
so
hard
to
obtain.
For
those
reasons,
I
promise
to
keep
my
remarks
brief.

I’ve
spoken
lots
of
places
before—from
the
UN,
to
the
White
House
to
Awards
Shows
in
front
of
hundreds
of
thousands
of
people.

But
this
is
my
first
commencement
speech.
Deciding
what
to
say
was
difficult.
I
wondered
what
could
I
share
with
you?

A
couple
weeks
back
I
was
in
the
studio
working
on
my
new
album.
I’d
hit
a
creative
block.
My
brother,
who
was
in
the
studio
with
me,
helped
me
look
for
inspiration
for
a
song.

He
ran
across
a
video
of
Adam
Clayton
Powell
Jr.,
a
well
known
African-­‐
American
civil
rights
leader,
pastor
and
Congressman
from
New
York.
Dr.
Powell
delivering
a
speech
in
Cambridge,
Massachusetts.

The
speech
was
moving—one
of
the
most
powerful
speeches
I’ve
ever
heard.

The
title
of
it
was
“What’s
in
your
hands?”
Dr.
Powell
was
speaking
to
a
group
of
people
who
were
down
on
their
luck,
thought
they
didn’t
matter,
thought
they
didn’t
have
power,
thought
they
had
no
way
of
escaping
poverty
and
no
way
of
changing
their
circumstances.

Dr.
Powell
asked
the
audience,
“WHATS
IN
YOUR
HANDS?”
He
wanted
to
get
them
to
think
about
what
they
CAN
do
rather
than
what
they
couldn’t
do.
What
they
DID
have
as
opposed
to
what
they
DIDN’T
have.

He
then
went
through
a
list
of
figures
both
biblical
and
historical.
From
Jesus
to
Benjamin
Franklin,
he
laid
out
examples
of
people
who
used
what
little
they
had
in
their
hands
to
change
the
world.

Not
only
did
the
speech
inspire
me
to
complete
the
song,
it
formed
the
basis
for
the
message
I
want
to
give
you
today—that
we
all
have
the
ability
to
achieve
our
dreams,
if
only
we
can
envision
what
we
want
and
plan
to
make
it
happen.

I
was
born
in
a
small
town
in
Haiti.
We
didn’t
have
much.

My
parents
left
Haiti
to
come
to
America
in
search
of
a
better
life
for
my
brother
and
me.

They
BELIEVED
that
if
they
could
just
change
their
circumstances,
they
could
begin
to
live
out
the
vision
they
had
for
themselves
and
their
children.

They
saved
every
penny
they
could
to
get
to
America.
But
they
knew
getting
to
America
wouldn’t
mean
automatic
success.
They
had
to
plan
in
order
to
reach
the
goals
they
set
for
themselves.

They
had
a
vision
for
their
future
that
was
far
greater
than
many
of
their
friends
and
even
other
family
members.

Like
my
parents,
you’ve
done
everything
you
can
to
complete
that
first
step.
They
wanted
to
get
to
America,
you
wanted
to
get
your
degree.

But
you
have
to
know
it
doesn’t
end
there.
You
have
to
ask
yourself,
what
will
you
do
with
the
degree?
How
will
you
use
it
to
achieve
your
goals?
And
the
answer
to
that
depends
on
HOW
FAR
YOU
CAN
SEE.

You
must
have
a
vision
for
your
future.
You
must
pair
that
vision
with
a
plan.

Because
my
mother
and
father
instilled
in
me
the
need
to
have
a
vision
and
a
plan,
I
survived
in
the
entertainment
industry—an
industry
that
isn’t
very
kind.

I
came
to
America
as
a
boy
excited.
This
was
the
land
of
possibilities
and
opportunities.
I
loved
music,
writing,
singing,
playing.
That’s
all
I
ever
wanted
to
do.

I
was
told
that
I
didn’t
have
a
chance.
That
there
was
no
way
I
could
make
a
living
as
a
musician
or
a
rapper.

I
was
in
a
group
no
one
wanted
to
manage.
Whose
first
album
didn’t
get
great
reviews.
I
was
told
to
give
up….several
times.

But
I
had
a
vision
for
myself
that
was
strong.
And
I
set
in
motion
a
plan
to
accomplish
what
I
knew
I
could.

If
you
have
a
vision
for
yourself,
it
won’t
matter
that
others
may
be
blind
to
what
you
CAN
see.
That
vision
will
help
you
see
past
many
factors
that
can
discourage
you.
That
vision
will
help
you
see
past
the
setbacks—and
setbacks
WILL
happen.

It’s
not
enough
to
just
be
able
to
SEE.
That’s
only
the
beginning.
The
real
question,
the
more
important
question
is,
WHAT
WILL
YOU
DO
WITH
WHAT
YOU
SEE?
What
are
you
going
to
do
with
that
vision?

Talk
to
anyone
successful
person
whether
it’s
your
professors
or
parents.
Research
any
figure
who
has
made
their
mark
in
history
or
in
their
respective
field.

The
one
thing
they
will
often
have
in
common
is
that
they
SAW
something
in
their
future.
And
the
reason
we
remember
them
is
because
they
DID
something
with
that
vision.

You
don’t
have
to
be
rich,
powerful,
or
famous
to
be
great
or
successful.
In
fact,
your
vision
doesn’t
have
to
be
of
you
becoming
rich,
powerful,
or
famous.

Unfortunately
in
this
society
we
measure
success
oftentimes
in
shallow
and
material
ways.
How
much
money
do
you
have?
How
powerful
are
you?
Are
you
famous?
How
big
is
your
house?
What
kind
of
car
do
you
drive?

All
these
questions
reinforce
misguided
belief
that
success
is
somehow
tied
to
material
things
that
benefit
the
SELF.
I
have,
I
do,
I
am.

I
have
had
a
lot
of
success
in
entertainment.
But
I
didn’t
really
become
successful
as
a
person
until
I
began
to
give
of
myself
to
others
who
needed
my
help.

Outside
of
being
a
husband
and
a
father,
nothing
has
given
me
greater
satisfaction
than
the
work
I’ve
been
able
to
do
with
YELE
HAITI—the
charity
I
founded
in
2005.

It’s
one
of
the
many
things
I’ve
been
able
to
accomplish
because
I
had
a
vision
for
myself.
All
of
the
success
I’ve
had
would
mean
nothing
without
the
opportunity
to
better
the
lives
of
others
in
my
home
country.

I’d
like
to
challenge
each
and
every
one
of
you
define
success
for
yourself.
You
will
find
that
making
a
commitment
to
others
as
well
as
yourself
will
be
key.

Create
a
vision
based
on
your
specific
gifts,
talents,
and
tools.
There
is
greatness
in
simply
being
you
and
using
your
skill
to
do
something
with
your
vision—and
to
put
your
personal
plan
in
motion.

You
are
ultimately
responsible
for
HOW
FAR
YOU
CAN
SEE.
Your
future
belongs
to
you,
and
you
alone.

Believe
it
or
not,
I
used
to
ride
a
donkey
to
school
in
Haiti.
I
lived
in
a
one-­‐room
shack.
When
I
came
to
America,
I
didn’t
speak
a
word
of
English.

Today
I
am
able
to
travel
the
world,
reach
people
with
my
music,
work
on
behalf
of
my
native
Haiti
and
even
speak
at
a
college
commencement.

I
am
proof
that
anything
you
want
is
possible,
if
you
can
only
envision
it
first.